Taking on the Okavango Delta!

On Thursday we began making plans to go to the Okavango Delta on Friday. I am such a planner, but I love being spontaneous here! After celebrating St. Patrick's day by going to see Celtic Fusion, a band from Ireland, we got up at 4am the next morning to catch our 10 hour bus to Maun. Katie, an international student from Colorado, Jenn, and I got on the bus and there were a total of five other people. Excited, we laid down across three seats and went to bed, soon waking up as we realized that this bus stops every half hour picking up new people, and this was not going to be as comfortable as the intercape buses that we took to Mozambique. It was hot, crowded, and the seats were not comfy at all, but by 4pm we made it to Maun.

Here is a map to show you where Maun and the Delta is! (Gaborone, the capital in the south being where I stay, and also Serowe is where the Khama Rhino Santuary was that I blogged about in the last post)

We got to The Old Bridge Backpackers which was recommended to us by friends, and to save money decided to only pay for one room (which meant paying 150 pula for a backpacker, and then paying for two 'campers' which is 50 pula each). So two people shared a small bed, one one person slept on the floor (luckily I got the bed!). The Backpackers was located right on the Thamalakane river, which leads to the Okavango Delta. It was beautiful to watch the sunset over the river, and read my book while I laid on a hammock under a tree.

When we first arrived we met these two girls in their mid twenties from the States who had been traveling around the world for a couple years, and had no plan of stopping anytime soon. They would travel until they ran out of money and then stopped to work for awhile. They had lived in three different cities in Australia working as waitresses or doing other little jobs working 50 hour weeks to save money. Then when they had enough, they continued on their way. They had already done most of Asia, some of Europe, and was working their way up Africa. All having a love for travel, it was safe to say that all three of us wanted to be these girls. After hearing about their adventurers, I too want to travel the world as much as possible!

These girls invited us to catch a ride with them to the local bar where there was a pilot party. Maun has one of the busiest airports, with small planes flying travelers all around different areas of the Delta and of course getting people to and from the Delta. We met pilots from all across the world now working or training in Maun, including people from New Zealand, Europe, Canada, and of course South Africa. The pilots do some sort of initiation by making each person do “an omelet” once they have completed their training. Two guys stood on chairs and first had to eat an entire egg, shell and all. They just plopped it in their mouths and chewed! So gross! Then had to chug a drink that was a shot of 15 different types of beer with a shot of some sort of hard liquor dropped into that. We danced with a pilot that used to be an aerobics instructor on a cruise ship (and boy was that obvious, haha), met as many people as possible, and then after stopping at a club that did not look safe, we decided to just call it a night and head back to the backpackers.

The next morning we got up and went on a Makoro trip. A makoro boat is a dug out canoe that is used in the shallow waters of the Delta. It is pushed by a man standing at the back of the boat pushing against the ground with a large pole. We were very nervous to go on this trip. We felt like this was probably going to be the riskiest thing that we do during all our time in Africa. Why were we so nervous? Well, less than three weeks before, four people were out in the evening on the river very close to the backpackers. There were two girls, including one American, and two local guys, including one that was the bartender at Old Bridge. They had been attacked by a hippo.. one guy getting killed from the hippo, and the other drowning, because he couldn't swim. The two girls were able to make it to shore. Everyone had been talking about what had happened, even people 10 hours away in Gabs. Everyone knows that hippo are extremely dangerous and for no reason at all.

We first took a motor boat down the river, already seeing dozens of different types of birds including herons, and the African fish eagle! Then we went to a small shore where we got onto the Makoro boats. Jenn and Katie went on one boat, and I went on another. My 'driver' was the young one, only 21 but looked 16. His name was Rogah, pronounced like Roger with an accent! Of course I had to tell him that was my Dad's name :) They steered us through the narrow pathways of the shallow delta, getting hit in the face often with the reeds shooting up from the water. But when I wasn't protecting my face, and we had a little more space, I felt so peaceful surrounded by water lilies. Rogah pointed out these little white frogs that were sitting on the reeds, and told me about how he loved being able to meet tourists from all over the world. Then he pointed out this noise that he said was a hippo! The water opened up and we could see the ears and noses of two hippos sticking out of the water (the most that most ever see of hippo). We sat behind some reeds, far enough away that we were safe, and watched ready with cameras in hand. Then one hippo sprang out of the water, mouth open, and left a big splash in the water. I hoped that I got a good picture! After watching them “play” for about 20 minutes we continued on our way.

Soon, we stopped, had lunch, and walked around “the bush” (in case you haven't heard this term, it means the places in Africa that are wild and free; rural areas with trees, bushes, and animals roaming free). We didn't see much during our walk besides one elephant way off in the distance. But we were so far away that I barely count it. I know that when I go up north to Chobe I will see tons of elephants, so I was not that disappointed. We headed back, seeing one more hippo's ears and nose on the way, but didnt stop to watch, because it soon went under water and we didnt know where it was. It really was an amazing once in a lifetime trip into the famous Okavango Delta.. well worth the 650 pula (about $100 USD).

The rest of the short weekend adventure was full of meeting new people and relaxing by the pool. On Sunday morning we went out to breakfast at a place near the airport, where coincidentally we saw several of the pilots we had met at the pilot party. We headed back, enduring another long and uncomfortable bus ride back to Gabs.. but it was well worth it!

Lists

Classes I'm Taking (with a score of 1-10 based on how much I am enjoying the class overall.. 0 being the worst, 10 the best)

Politics of Poverty in Southern Africa (3)

HIV/AIDS: Education, Prevention, and Control (my professor never really shows up so its hard to judge but.. 3)

Sociology of Race and Ethnicity (8)

Sociology of Cultural and Social Anthropology (was a 5 or 6 but now that the Professor has changed to the same as my Race and Ethnicity class.. its up to a 7)

Health and Wellness (1)

Weird Things I've Eaten

Mopane Worm

Common Words/Phrases

Dumela (hello)

hows it? (hows it going?)

Wa reng? (Whats up?)

is it? (oh really?)

aye...yaaaaa (meaning something like oh boy.. for example.. if someone says they have three tests today you could respond by saying aye yaa. I use it in a joking way usually.. like when a group of friends are talking in Setswana i'll just say aye yaaa or aye raa (meaning yes sir).

Animals I'v Seen

Zebra

Ostrich

Ampala

Warthog

Monkey

Rhino

Giraffe

Water Buck

Springbok

Wildebeest

Kudu

Favorite African Songs (for my girls to listen to!)

HOUSE MUSIC!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aA3Z9S2zVVk Liquideep – Alone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7RU9T-UgQ8 Liquideep – Fairytale

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQbxy9WLsA8 Zakes Bantwini - Clap Your Hands

Favorite Places to Eat

Primi – Italian

Equatorial Cafe

Linga Longa

Rodizio – Brazillian

Chicken Licken – fast food

Favorite Places I've been so far

1. Ponte De Ouro, Mozambique of course!

2. Khama Rhino Sanctuary in Serowe – about 4 hours northeast of Gaborone. We stayed in a beautiful chalet on the reserve and enjoyed three game drives at sunrise, afternoon, and early evening! All the pictures in this post are from the Rhino Sanctuary!

Possibly the best week of my life... so far!

Semester break was finally here, and I was more than ready for it. The excitement had been building as locals told me that Mozambique had the most beautiful beaches in all of Africa. We left early Friday morning for the bus pickup where we had already bought all of our bus tickets ahead of time. Everyone got off at the South African border (only about 25 minutes away from school) to fill out their departure/arrival forms and such and less than an hour into the trip, I was almost brought to tears. To stay in Botswana Americans don't need visas but once we get here we have to get a waiver.. basically a piece of paper saying were allowed to be here for less than six months. The University of Botswana international office had made a copy of my waiver for me, telling me not to bring my actual waiver anywhere so I don't lose it, to just keep it in my room and bring the copy everywhere I go. Well, it just so happens to cross borders you need your original waiver, a copy will not do. After arguing with immigration officers for 20 minutes about how we already paid for our bus and we couldn't go back, we eventually took our stuff off the bus and began thinking of a plan. I was traveling with three other international students, two of which had their real waivers with them so continued on to Johannesburg, and one of which was stuck at the border with me.

Rushing off the bus, we were telling Laura and Sagan (the two continuing on, best friends from Wisconsin) that we would try to catch the bus the next morning and somehow meet them in Mozambique. Frustrated and upset that our break was being ruined we tried to think of what else we could do. Jenn, my roommate and travel partner from Washington state thought of the idea to hitchhike. [Worrying family, please brace yourself for the following story and know that I am being very safe here and I do realize that some things that I did may not have been the safest decisions in the world but they were the best choices at the time, they were learning experiences and I do not regret them] At first, I didnt want to. Of course it sounded dangerous to me even though I did know that hitchhiking is extremely common in Africa, unlike the States. We went to the border security guards and told them our situation and asked if they thought it would be safe to hitchhike back to school, get our waivers, then hitchhike to Johannesburg so we could catch out next bus as Laura and Sagan waited at the station during our layover. They all agreed that we would be perfectly fine.

A little worried, we decided we would ask people that were crossing into Botswana that looked harmless (that sounds so stupid when I write it because I know you cant really tell good and bad people from looks) and see if they would bring us back to school. The first guy that pulled up was a middle aged white South African man in a jeep, he had no problem bringing us so we hopped in and began our journey. We had been driving for 20 minutes and he said he just needed to stop by his house real quick before we went to UB. We're sitting in his driveway, Jenn in the passenger seat and me in the back, and after 10 minutes he comes out of his house with nothing but rope (that kind of looked like a karate belt?) and a box cutter. As he walked towards the jeep I kept saying between my teeth to Jenn “Is that a box cutter? Why does he have a box cutter? Why would be have rope and a box cutter?” My stomach tightened as he opened the back door, put the rope and box cutter behind the drivers seat and got back into the car. He said nothing about it. We continued on our way and he began making small talk. It ended up he is a scientist that is working at the University. He stopped and bought us fat cakes (doughnut things) from his favorite bakery then dropped us off, telling us where his office is if we ever wanted to stop by. And that was that. I will never know, and didn't want to ask, why he stopped at his house for rope and a box cutter.. but luckily, he actually was a very nice man and hopefully had a very normal reason for needing those things.

Once back at school we had to run around using peoples phones and such and eventually had our good friend Anthony come to bring us Jenn's phone (he was keeping all our valuables at his house for the week) and he ended up being us back to the border.. after we had gotten our waivers of course. At the border, finding another car to hitchhike to Jo'burg in was easier than I ever would have thought. In line at immigration, a man overhearing us talking offered to drop us off there on his way back home to Pretoria. We took the first offer we got! The man seemed very nice, another middle aged white South African who was traveling with his business partner back home from a business trip to Gaborone. On our way to their car as we walked through the border, we got another offer from a sweet looking couple to bring us to Jo'burg. We actually would rather have gone with them, but the other guys were already waiting for us, so we kept to the plan. Four hours later, after driving through the beautiful hills and small towns of South Africa, we made it to the station and managed to find Laura and Sagan sitting at a restaurant after about 20 minutes. People must have thought we hadn't seen each other in years, we were so excited to be reunited and back on track with the plan. After an overnight bus to Maputo, the capitol of Mozambique, we took a ferry to Catembe and then got picked up by a guy from the place we were staying at. It was another three hour drive, very bumpy and very dusty with house music blasting nice and loud the whole way.

Finally we had made it to our final destination of Ponta de Ouro, Mozambique. We were staying at Kaya Kweru in the backpackers hostels. We stayed in bunk beds and shared a kitchen area with a couple other people. There was a pool, a bar, and most importantly a two minute walk to the beach from our room! Our week consisted mostly of relaxing on the beach, swimming in the ocean (my first time seeing and being in the Indian ocean!), boogie boarding, trying to avoid the blue jellyfish, and exploring the town. In the mornings we would take a walk to the market where locals have little tables and booths with fruit, vegetables, eggs, pasta, and a few other things. We would go to this little bakery hidden in the market every morning for fresh little loaves of bread for 10 meticais (32 cents in USD!) that would last me three meals or so. A couple days into the trip we found tons of booths selling African souvenirs with jewelery, artwork, carvings, and all that good stuff. I had a good time making small talk with the guys from Maputo selling things that their “dad or brother made”.. we literally met over 30 people that have very creative dad's and brothers..haha. And of course I bargained my way into getting many good souvenirs.

In Mozambique they speak Portuguese, and really the only word I learned other than hola was obrigado, meaning thank you. On the first day I must have said it 20 times to different people at the backpackers and the market, every time getting a laugh when I said it. I assumed my accent sounded funny to them, until the next day I was told boys say Obrigado and girls are supposed to say obrigada.. the laughing now made even more sense.

One day we rented 4-wheelers and took them up the coast for awhile. We went to a place called 360 and ate a meal with a beautiful 360 degree view of Ponta de Ouro. We saw many friendly locals including little boys trying to sell us chameleons (which is illegal to do), and found some other booths with similar crafts.

On the last morning of our trip we woke up at 5:15 to go out on a 'swimming with dolphins' trip. This wasn't the kind where you swim on their backs or anything, this was with wild dolphins and there were very specific instructions about what we were supposed to do. We even learned what it meant when the dolphins did certain things, and what we should do in response. We were so excited even though all of us had sunburn on some part of our bodies (Me being the least burnt by far). We helped push the catamaran boat into the water and everything began moving very quickly and they were yelling for us to jump in. We just did our best to jump in, and for me it didn't work out so well, haha! I cut open my leg and scrapped my knee. It really wouldn't have been that big of a deal if it wasn't for my blood phobia. As the blood dripped down my leg and I wiped it away over and over again all my friends and I could think about was me passing out while sitting on the edge of a boat going 30 MPH through the ocean's waves. Luckily I was able to zone out the blood and focus on the beauty around me, the peacefulness of the ocean and the wind blowing through my hair. 20 minutes went by looking for the dolphins, then 30, then 40.. then we started to worry. Eventually we stopped to get out and snorkel anyways, hoping to see something until we found the dolphins. As we plopped into the water and looked down at the black and brown rocks on the bottom of the ocean's floor we began noticing jellyfish everywhere. There were jellies literally a foot away from my face, and since Sagan had just been stung the day before we were not willing to risk getting stung to look at a boring oceans floor. We all agreed that if there were dolphins we would go back in and risk it. So we got back in the boat where Laura began trying to throw up over the side because of sea sickness and Jenn curled up in pain from having her sunburnt stomach dragged across the boat as she was pulled back in. We continued looking for another 20 minutes, then headed back to shore with nothing but pain and disappointment all around. They said that hasn't happened in a very long time and that we could come back the next day for a free trip out to try again. Unfortunately, that was our last day and the next offer do it the next time we come back to Ponta de Ouro didn't sound too much better considering the chances that we will ever be in this place again are not the highest.

Trying to forget about the 300 rand (44 USD) I had wasted on the dolphin trip, I was so happy with our relaxing but adventure filled trip. We then headed back to Gaborone, the same way we got here.. minus the hitchhiking. Ended the trip with a marriage proposal on the ferry from a man from Catembe who wanted me to stay in Catembe with him forever. Unfortunately, I had to break his heart. We had a wonderful meal in Maputo, a very large, busy city that was kind of dirty and did not interest me too much, before boarding our bus back to Jo'burg. During our long layovers in Jo'burg we took turns watching the bags and going out to explore the city for a little bit. Jenn and I adventured out first, having been warned that we were in a somewhat dangerous area of the city. We walked for about 15 or 20 minutes both times that we went being bombarded with “Hello beautiful! Can I be your friend? Can I walk with you? Onions! Three Rand! Can I take you to the movies? Kiss me!” and our repetition of “No” and “Don't touch me” got old and we made our way back to the station after buying a few treats for the ride. It is not a place your should walk around with more than 10 rand on you, and never walk alone or at night, but it was great to experience the crazy streets of Jo'burg.. I still find it amusing that even in South Africa we stood out as the only white girls around, getting way more unwanted attention than we ever have in Gabs.

This trip was amazing. This was why I wanted to study abroad: to experience new lands, meet new people, and learn about new cultures though once in a lifetime experiences. It made me even more excited for my next traveling adventures up to northern Botswana to Chobe, to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, and to Capetown, S.A.